Babesia microti from humans and ticks hold a genomic signature of strong population structure in the United States

Carpi, Giovanna; Walter, Katharine S.; Mamoun, Choukri Ben; Krause, Peter J.; Kitchen, Andrew; Lepore, Timothy J.; Dwivedi, Ankit; Cornillot, Emmanuel; Caccone, Adalgisa; Diuk‐Wasser, Maria A.

doi:10.1186/s12864-016-3225-x

Cited by 18 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 64 publications

(77 reference statements)

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“…This was not the case in our study, with sequences from P. leucopus and M. pennsylvanicus revealing high similarity between females and fetuses and overall. Low genome-wide sequence diversity was also observed in other studies [ 43 , 44 ]. Some studies suggest that B. microti represents a rich species complex consisting of three distinct clades in the United States using the 18S rRNA gene; however genetic diversity within each clade is relatively invariant [ 19 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Transplacental transmission of tick-borne Babesia microti in its natural host Peromyscus leucopus

Tufts

Diuk‐Wasser

2018

Parasites Vectors

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BackgroundBabesia microti is an emerging tick-borne pathogen and the causative agent of human babesiosis. Mathematical modeling of the reproductive rate of B. microti indicates that it cannot persist in nature by horizontal tick-host transmission alone. We hypothesized that transplacental transmission in the reservoir population contributes to B. microti persistence and emergence in North American rodent populations.MethodsPeromyscus leucopus were collected from Connecticut and Block Island, Rhode Island and analyzed using a highly specific quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay for infection with B. microti.ResultsIn April, 100% (n = 103) of mice were infected with B. microti. Females exhibited significantly higher parasitemia than their offspring (P < 0.0001) and transplacental transmission was observed in 74.2% of embryos (n = 89). Transplacental transmission of B. microti is thus a viable and potentially important infectious pathway in naturally infected rodent species and should be considered in future theoretical and empirical studies.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this study is the first to report transplacental transmission of B. microti occurring in its natural reservoir host, P. leucopus, in the United States and the only study that provides a quantitative estimate of parasitemia. This vector-independent pathway could contribute to the increased geographic range of B. microti or increase its abundance in endemic areas.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-018-2875-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Transplacental transmission of tick-borne Babesia microti in its natural host Peromyscus leucopus

Tufts

Diuk‐Wasser

2018

Parasites Vectors

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“…The completion of genome sequencing and annotation of the B. microti R1 clinical isolate in 2012 (14) and the subsequent DNA and RNA sequencing of other clinical and field strains isolated from patient blood or infected ticks created a unique opportunity to identify new drug targets and novel antigens for diagnosis of active B. microti active infections (15)(16)(17). Recently, a multidisciplinary approach combining in silico analysis and immunoproteomics identified BmGPI12 (also known as BmSA1) as a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored protein and an immunodominant antigen of B. microti (16,17).…”

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confidence: 99%

BmGPAC, an Antigen Capture Assay for Detection of Active Babesia microti Infection

Mootien¹,

Lawres

Perrin

et al. 2018

J Clin Microbiol

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Human babesiosis is an emerging zoonotic infectious disease caused by intraerythrocytic protozoan parasites of the genus Most cases of human babesiosis are caused by and often manifest in individuals over the age of 50 years or in patients with a compromised immune system. Patients who develop symptomatic infections usually experience months of asymptomatic infection after the acute infection has resolved. About one-fifth of-infected adults never develop symptoms. These asymptomatically infected individuals sometimes donate blood and thus can transmit through blood transfusion. Current assays for detection of active infections can be used to screen donor blood prior to transfusion, but they rely primarily on microscopy or PCR methods, which have sensitivity and technical limitations. Here we report the development of an antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (BmGPAC) based on a major secreted immunodominant antigen of (BmGPI12/BmSA1), and we provide evidence that this assay is superior for detection of active infections, compared to available microscopy methods and serological assays. The assay has been evaluated using supernatants of -infected erythrocytes cultured, sera from -infected laboratory mice, and sera from wild mice and human patients. Our data suggest that the BmGPAC assay is a reliable assay for detection of active infections and is superior to real-time PCR and antibody assays for diagnosis of acute infections, screening of the blood supply, and epidemiological surveys of humans and animal reservoir hosts.

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“…As a neglected pathogen, reference standards are somewhat incomplete and most data pertaining to diversity of human Babesia isolates have been regionally focused (i.e. in the US) [47] and may not be applicable to the target location. While the preceding pilot study lend credence to the findings, true prevalence data are lacking.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Babesia observational antibody (BAOBAB) study: A cross-sectional evaluation of Babesia in two communities in Kilosa district, Tanzania

et al. 2019

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Background Babesia , a tick-borne genus of intraerythrocytic parasites, is understudied in humans outside of established high-endemic areas. There is a paucity of data on Babesia in Africa, despite evidence that it is regionally present. A pilot study suggested that Babesia was present in a rural district of Tanzania. Methodology/Principal findings A cross-sectional study was conducted July-August 2017: residents in a case hamlet that had clustering of subjects with high signal-to-cut off (S/CO) ratios for antibodies against B . microti in the pilot study, and a control hamlet that had lacked significant signal, were evaluated for B . microti . Subjects aged ≥15yrs (n = 299) underwent clinical evaluation and household inspections; 10ml whole blood was drawn for Babesia transcription mediated amplification (TMA), B . microti indirect fluorescent antibody testing (IFA) and rapid diagnostic testing (RDT) for Plasmodium spp. Subjects aged <15yrs (n = 266) underwent a RDT for Plasmodium and assessment by ELISA for B . microti antibodies. A total of 570 subjects participated (mean age 22 [<1 to 90yrs]) of whom 50.7% were female and 145 (25.5%) subjects were Plasmodium RDT positive (+). In those <15yrs, the median ELISA S/CO was 1.11 (IQR 0.80–1.48); the median S/CO in the case (n = 120) and control (n = 146) hamlets was 1.19 (IQR 0.81–1.48) and 1.06 (IQR 0.80–1.50) respectively (p = 0.4). Children ≥5yrs old were more likely to have a higher S/CO ratio than those <5yrs old (p<0.001). One hundred (38%) subjects <15yrs were Plasmodium RDT+. The median S/CO ratio (children <15yrs) did not differ by RDT status (p = 0.15). In subjects ≥15yrs, no molecular test was positive for Babesia , but four subjects (1.4%) were IFA reactive (two each at titers of 128 and 256). Conclusions/Significance The findings offer further support for Babesia in rural Tanzania. However, low prevalence of seroreactivity questions its clinical significance.

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Babesia microti from humans and ticks hold a genomic signature of strong population structure in the United States

Cited by 18 publications

References 64 publications

Transplacental transmission of tick-borne Babesia microti in its natural host Peromyscus leucopus

Transplacental transmission of tick-borne Babesia microti in its natural host Peromyscus leucopus

BmGPAC, an Antigen Capture Assay for Detection of Active Babesia microti Infection

The Babesia observational antibody (BAOBAB) study: A cross-sectional evaluation of Babesia in two communities in Kilosa district, Tanzania

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